Water world: Gulf Coast regions to add two water parks

Moby Solangi, president and executive director of the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies in Gulfport, shows a dolpin that is being nursed back to health. Solangi is spearheading the development of Ocean Expo. a new aquarium under constuction in D'Iberville, Miss., which should open in 2013. (The Mississippi Press/file photo)

Explore a shipwreck in Gulf Shores, and kiss a sea lion in D'Iberville.

Aquarium lovers could soon have two water parks to visit, Ocean Expo under construction off Interstate 10 in D'Iberville, and Oceans Park, a planned indoor water park on Ala. 59 and Baldwin County 6 East in Gulf Shores.

Two water parks may be better than one when it comes to bringing visitors to the Gulf Coast region, the park developers said. In fact, D'Iberville city officials estimate the new aquarium could bring from 300,000 to 1 million people a year to its Gulf Coast -- people that may not be coming now due to limited family entertainment venues.

"We're not looking at it as the D'Iberville aquarium, but as a Gulf Coast, state of Mississippi and even regional center," said Moby Solangi, director of the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies in Gulfport.

Solangi has spearheaded the $17 million Ocean Expo project, which will replace and expand the marine center's aquarium in Gulfport, which was destroyed in 2005's Hurricane Katrina.

"What we learned after Katrina and the BP spill is that regionalism is going to be important for our cities as our economy has its challenges," Solangi said. "Trust me, our economy is going to take a long time to recover."

A $10 million federal grant has jump-started the Ocean Expo project, which is set to open in spring 2013. The city of D'Iberville sold $4.5 million in bonds to pay for the land, which it will lease to Solangi's operation. The city will also pay for infrastructure such as water and roads.

Ocean Expo will focus on education, conservation and research, as well as expand its aquarium displays. Swimming with dolphins, sea lion interaction, a snorkeling pool, children's water cove, a restaurant and free-flying bird exhibits are planned, according to Solangi. The park will employ 100 people and depend on lots of volunteers, he said.

In Gulf Shores, the planned indoor Oceans Park will be built on more than 17 acres owned by Clyde Weir, the former owner of Souvenir City in Gulf Shores. He and Dennis Thomas have partnered to develop a year-round park that would feature saltwater attractions such as a 30-feet-deep aquarium where visitors can dive with sea life and explore a shipwreck.

That operation would also employ about 100 people.

The final plans for Oceans Park should be complete this fall, and the developers will seek to rezone the land to include amusement use this month, according to Weir. He and Thomas will finance the $3 million needed to build the park, he said.

"It will be privately owned and very, very unique," Weir said.

The Oceans Park site has more than 2,000 front feet on Ala. 59, and is adjacent to 25 acres that the Weir family donated for the new Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo, which was designed by Thomas.

An aquarium would do well and be welcomed on Alabama's Gulf Coast, according to Mike Foster, vice president of marketing for Gulf Shores-Orange Beach Tourism.

"A water attraction needs the will and the money" to do it, Foster said. "It all takes money."

Solangi said the two water park concepts may overlap somewhat, but he added, "What we have is already in progress, and we have a proven track record."

Ocean Expo's master plan is a hybrid of good ideas gleaned from other water parks, as well as the successes from the existing marine park, he said.

"Our job is to make learning fun and get people to appreciate the coastal environment."